Expo Design Center - Home Depot Work not completed Atlanta Georgia

Letter 1
Saratoga, CA 95070

January 7th 2004

Mr. Robert Nardelli Chairman, President & CEO
Corporate Headquarters
Home Depot Corporation
2455 Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30339

Dear Mr. Nardelli

Perhaps you have seen the movie The Money Pit? Well unfortunately my story regarding experiences with Expo Design Center would be a sad sequel to it.

You must be a busy man and I don't want to waste a lot of your time with all the details of the absolute horror story, which started last April 15th and still continues.

When we decided to go with Expo Design Center for our bathroom remodeling we thought we were going with the best.

It was a surprise to find out we were required to pay in full for everything prior to commencement of the project a little short of $50,000. When we asked why, your people told us Expo has a bond of $5 million with the State. The project was for the complete remodel of one bathroom and replacing lights, one toilet and tile floor in two others. There was no problem with the design side of the project. However implementation of the design was fraught with problems.

The sub contractors for the project were sporadic at best. They would not show up for days and when they did they spent maybe a couple of hours doing the work.

Here is a brief (and I emphasize brief) list of the events

The wrong tile was installed in our downstairs bathroom
Our less-than-a-year-old toilet that was to be re-installed was thrown away by mistake
The replacement toilet had a crack in the tank and would have flooded our downstairs had I not found it prior to leaving town for the weekend
The tile in our master bathroom was re-laid three times and still has poor grout
A pocket door in the master bathroom was tiled in
One of the contractors turned off the water at the water meter then only turned it half on. This killed our landscaping which still has not recovered
The master bathroom shower grout looks like it is thirty years old
The wrong toilet was installed in the master bathroom
The toilet in the master bathroom had a bad seal and leaked into our home theatre below necessitating cutting a large hole in the ceiling this is still not fixed

By now you are perhaps getting the picture? Unfortunately there's a lot more!

To say the least, we have been existing rather than living in our home since April 15 (the project was to take four to six weeks). All the while we have been somewhat philosophical about matters and in retrospect this has perhaps worked against us. We have not been yelling and screaming for things to be fixed though we would certainly be justified in doing so. The tile in our master bathroom shower has to be replaced (yet again) and it is unavailable until the middle of February. This means we have been effectively without the full use of our home for going on a year!

I will not bore you with the details of meetings with management of the store whereby they repeatedly said this is not the normal way that Expo does business then proceeded to continue in the same way! There were innuendos from one of the contractors about putting a lean on our house because they said Expo had not paid them.

Before I take any further action (which does not necessarily mean suing) I would like to see if there is something you can cause to be done to resolve this situation. I am sure you will want to hear from your people before getting back to me.

The store (#1035) is at 5095 Almaden Expressway, San Jose CA. Our project number is 1321.The project manager is Mr. Paul Havik and the project supervisor is Mr. Roger Terchoka.

After contacting them perhaps you will understand why I am a very disappointed customer and shareholder.

May I hear from you soon?

Yours very truly,

Roy Worthington

Back to top :: Next Letter


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter 2
Saratoga, CA 95070

January 26th 2004

Mr. Robert Nardelli Chairman, President & CEO
Corporate Headquarters
Home Depot Corporation
2455 Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30339

Dear Mr. Nardelli

On January 7th I wrote you a letter (copy attached) regarding a situation with Expos design and my home. To date I have heard nothing from you or your office.

The Expo supervisor for our project said You folks have been very patient during this whole ordeal. However our patience is wearing extremely thin.

I would appreciate a response by return

Yours very truly,

Roy Worthington

Back to top :: Next Letter


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Letter 3
Saratoga, CA 95070

February 2, 2004

Mr. Robert Nardelli Chairman, President & CEO
Corporate Headquarters
Home Depot Corporation
2455 Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30339

Dear Mr. Nardelli:

This is my THIRD letter to you and I have yet to receive a satisfactory response to my previous two (copies attached).

Last week I did receive a monotonic voice mail from someone in Customer Care saying that a Customer Care specialist will be contacting me in three to five business days. Five business days have passed and no call Customer Care?

I also got a form letter (also attached) which to say the least infuriates me. It is obvious that my letters to you are being blocked and shunted off to disinterested parties that would appear to hope this situation is going to go away. Please be aware that it is not going away and the manner in which this is being mishandled by your people is only worsening matters.

Almost three months ago we met with Expo management regarding some sort of adjustment for the damage, loss of use etc. We were not being unreasonable and were told we would get an assuredly positive response (approval) in less than a week. So far nothing and the manager concerned does not return my calls but sends messages through the project supervisor saying when our house is finished he will then talk to us. At this point a full refund of everything we paid for would barely be in order. We have not had full use of our home for over nine months and the project is still incomplete.

Let me tell you of our plans for the website the name for which I reserved to tell the whole story of our sad saga with Expo. Once we have the story posted the plan is to put signs on a van. Then have the van driven continuously round the block where the store concerned is located.

In addition my company has a department that specializes in web page promotion. It is my intent to get our site to the top of internet search engine lists. If someone searches for EXPO then they will see that site and our sad experience and story at or near the top of the list.

I do not want to have to take these measures (and I assure you they are just the beginning) but somehow I have to get your attention.

Yours very truly,

Roy Worthington

cc
San Jose Mercury News Action Line
Better Business Bureau of San Jose
Michael Finney ABCTV 7 On Your Side KGO TV
California State Department of Consumer Affairs
California Department of Contractors Licensing

Jean
Campbell, California
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Home Depot